Paolo Gourmet Pizzeria

I was visiting Phila from Baltimore and wanted to try this place because a co-​worker recommended it (he’s from Phila). I tried to speak a little Spanish with the cashier just to be friendly (I took 3 years of high school so I know some basic phrases). And then a Fedex employee walked-​in, heard me trying to say basic stuff lke «Si» and «Gracias» and he and the cashier proceeded to talk bad about me in Spanish, like they resented me trying to talk to them in Spanish.
It wasn’t worth making a scene, because I’m just passing through but I immediately compared this treatment with the friendly hispanics in Baltimore who really appreciate you trying to speak Spanish. So I got my pizza and left telling myself, I was really underwhelmed by both the pizza and the disrespectful treatment.
I see from other Unilocalers, even folks who live within a few blocks of Paolo’s that there is a disturbing downward trend in food quality, taste and customer service. Maybe there was an owner/​management change? I don’t know, but if the locals don’t even like the place, then that’s a definite red flag. Hope things improve, that’s all I can say at this point.

I come here when I visit Philadelphia often as its close to family. The cheesteaks are actually pretty dam good. They put the whole thing in the oven which gets it all crispy which I love. The Stromboli’s are also pretty decent. Most of the 4 star is the cheesteak though.
Simple and reasonable place.

This place is gross. I lived next door for a year and I ate there more often than I’d like to admit; every meal ended with self-​loathing and indigestion. The pizza is blah, the salads are sad, the sandwiches are under stuffed, and the wings are dry, decent cheesesteak though.

This place has become my go-​to pizza spot. I’ve tried countless places in the area and this place has been consistent and delicious. I’ve never ordered anything other
Than pizza and salad, so I can’t speak for anything else, but the pizza is as good as you can get in the area.

Damn. This place got me. I thought it might be decent (good menu, been there a while) but now I’ve been totally ripped off, twice in one night, and all I can do is write a Unilocal review about it. I’d rather have my money.
I ordered the Insalata Banzai, which is described as «romaine lettuce, Italian tuna, capers, oil, and cherry tomatoes.» What I got was spinach, tuna salad, and that’s it. I also got an order of soggy unsalted fries, which turned out to be exactly like the name described. The delivery guy REFUSED to come into the lobby of the hotel where I work, and I was forced to walk out of my job and wait on the corner for him. He was sketchy and rude, as other reviewers have stated.
I called and told them my order was wrong, and they were like «Yeah, it’s a menu error. We gotta change the menu because we don’t have Italian tuna.» I was like «You charged me for it, it’s more expensive» and they were like «Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine. We’ll give you 20% off your next order» so I was all «OK, since the food you gave me totally sucks, I’ll just order something now».
I ordered the UArts Burger, which is described as «Veggie burger w/​spinach, onion, roasted pepper, portobello & gorgonzola cheese». The delivery guy came 30 minutes later, charging into the lobby like a big ol’ jerk and said «It’s $ 3.75». I gave him $ 5 because even though I didn’t like him at all, he actually DELIVERED IT TO ME. I was like, COOL! I opened the box and inside was a dry veggie burger with literally nothing on it. No peppers, not mushrooms, no cheese, no spinach, no onions. It was one of those frozen green veggie patties that taste like peas.
Clearly, this place decided to screw with me all night. My prediction is this business is just a front for a world-​class scam artist named Paolo, who’s vacationing in Paris by selling people garbage and calling it food.
SUCKS.

Worst Experience: Ordered a tomato pie with extra-​extra garlic. They used extra-​extra garlic salt, not one piece of actual garlic. Pizza tasted like solid salt water. Delivery guy calls from outside to let me know he is there. I answer the phone and head down the steps. As i get to the door he raps on the glass with a bottle, waking up two people in my home @ 11 p.m. Manager said the best he could do is give me 10% off my next order. Does the other 90% include disturbance of the peace and a bag of salt on a shingle?

Good Pizza — Lack of Attention to Customer
I ordered several dishes last night. Their Mamma Mia Special Pizza is good, with a very well made roasted garlic. The onion rings lacked salt and the garlic bread was slightly undercooked. But that’s where I stop. I explicitly wrote on all my orders and as a general comment «NO bell peppers or chili peppers please — allergy», but the 2 salads and the chicken dish I ordered all had green bell peppers. Hence, uneatable for me. I had also ordered a soda, that was forgotten. The gentleman who made the delivery was prompt and courteous though.

this place is slightly under average if you’re looking for that true north jersey pizza taste, but it’s pizza what can you say. ugh, they didn’t have hoagies like wtf am I doing here they don’t have hoagies I came in for a hoagie! I settled on a wrap and to my surprise it was real tasty. I mean tasty in that ‘maybe ill come back’ sort of way. but also maybe not. I guess you’ll never know!
²⁄₅ –CK

False Advertisement + No Flavor = Rip-​Off
I ordered two slices of Margherita Pizza to go — the menu advertised it as being topped with fresh mozzarella. Nope, these slices were simply topped with sliced squares of provolone.
Never would have strayed from Pizzeria Gusto if I had known that I would be paying the same amount for something i could have made with deli slices of cheese and bread.
Never again!

COCKROACH!
In my Caesar salad. I ate almost the whole salad before seeing it. Small/​medium sized brown one. EW! Yuck! OMG.
I have lived in Philly for over 10 years, have eaten out at least a few times a week (at least), and NEVER found a cockroach in my food. I have also had delivery from Paolo’s multiple times. This is Unforgivable! I will not be patronizing Paolo’s again. And, it’s really a shame. Their ranch chicken pizza really does put everyone else’s to shame. Maybe it’s a good thing, because I really don’t need to eat ranch chicken pizza… ever. But either way, I’ll never be able to eat food from them again without having cockroaches on my mind…

Probably somewhere between a 3 and a 4 star pizza joint, Paolo’s is one of the better pizza options in Center City, and its location near the University of the Arts makes it great for art students. The pizza is sometimes very good, other times just ok, (never bad or amazing), and the prices are Center-​City high. In terms of the ambiance, I think it’s at it’s best when they’re playing soccer games broadcast in Spanish on the TVs.

The service here is atrocious. Time after time, again and again, my order gets completely abandoned. They seldom remember to even PREP for my order (they won’t even take the supply out from storage). This absent-​minded service leaves me with mediocre fries and pizza 20 minutes after I placed my order. The only reason I believe so many people come here is out of sheer walking convenience. It’s worth the extra blocks to find somewhere nicer.

I’m not sure how many reviews it will take to get the message across to the owners of this place (having read the ones before mine), but I’m going to add mine to the pot in the hopes that the owners will finally fire their delivery guy. It sounds like he’s been rude to others before me, but I may have the dubious honor of being the first person he’s made cry.
I was in Philly on vacation with my boyfriend, and after a night of trekking around the city, we were cold and tired and went back to the hotel. I placed an order for cheesecake, and about 45 minutes later got a call that the delivery was in the hotel lobby. When I got to the lobby, I couldn’t see the guy anywhere, but as I went to check the front door area, he came in through a side door, put the bag on a table near his door, and bolted out the door before I could even walk over to meet him. Stange, but whatever: I had cheesecake.
I got a fork from the front desk and started untying the knot in the bag as I rode the elevator back up to my room. That was when I noticed that while one side of the cheesecake was cut and smooth the way you’d expect, the other side looked like it had had bits chipped away from it, as if someone had been eating it. Looking at it closer, it looked like someone had used a fork to eat some of it. Needless to say, I was grossed out.
When I got back to the room, I called Paolo’s to ask what might have happened. A woman answered the phone (Colleen I think), and when I explained she sounded a little incredulous but was still polite. I offered to send her a picture, and called back a minute later to see if they’d gotten it. At that point, Colleen abruptly said «I have the delivery guy for you» and passed him the phone. From the get-​go he was really angry, suggesting that I was accusing him of eating the cheesecake. I said I wasn’t, but was wondering what might have happened. He said several more times that he was angry that I was «accusing» him of eating it, and then said «really, I think you ate it. I think you get the cheesecake and think ‘oh I don’t like this’, and you call us to try to scam us for different cheesecake.» I insisted to him that I had not eaten the cheesecake, but that I just wanted to be able to eat my dessert, which I didn’t feel comfortable doing with a half-​eaten slice. He told me it was too small an order for him to bother coming out to bring a new slice, and used the word «scam» about 5 more times. By the end of it, I felt so attacked and yelled at that I was crying. He hung up on me, and when my boyfriend called back to see why, he got Colleen, who assured him that the delivery guy was on his way over with a new slice.
Later, I got a text back from Colleen (who I’d sent the picture to), apologizing again about «the way he just talked to you» and offering free cheesecake next time I ordered. Eventually, I got the new slice, which was cut normally on both sides but a little bland, with a gelatinous strawberry topping.
The short version: worst delivery guy ever, pretty bland cheesecake.

Paolo’s used to be good. Now it is bad.
Last several orders the pasta has tasted burnt (sauce left unattended I guess?), they’ve stopped using actual wraps for the wraps (they’re pita now) and the last pizza we ordered came with no sauce, raw spinach instead of sautéed spinach, chopped bell peppers instead of roasted peppers, and was undercooked.
On top of that I’ve actually been yelled at by the delivery guy (who arrived an hour and a half after ordering) for putting an order in too close to closing time. I put the order in 40 minutes before they were supposed to close.
They clearly just don’t care at this point.

The pizza slices were overlooked and gross. The garlic knots were burnt on the bottom and so tough and greasy I could even eat them. It was all around gross.

Fine but nothing special.

This is one of my favorite pizza places in the city. First, it has a great selection of slices you can get in an instant. Try a slice of the bbq chicken or the white with ricotta or the crazy veggie slice. With so many to chose from, you’ll keep coming back.
Second, order pizzas ahead of time. Get a large 4 Canto and add mushrooms, or get the incredibly delicious Pizza Ortolana. Whatever you choose, you probably can’t get it elsewhere in the city.
Third, the hoagies and sandwiches are worth it. I will get an Italian hoagie, and it’s served nearly open faced. The cuts of meat, cheeses, and veggies are quality and fresh. Add a little vinegar and olive oil to finish it off deliciously.
Last, let’s talk price. It’s not cheap, and that’s my only drawback. $ 3.25 for a slice of bbq chicken feels steep. I would be happier paying $ 2.50. BUT you pay for the free wifi and two flat screen TVs (and the solid quartz tables, mind you). This is a great place to chill, have great pizza, and have a beer (it can be BYOB, but they do sell beer, too). I keep coming back here and that shouldn’t change.

I had gotten their gourmet pizza here years ago– the veggie and the pulled pork, which were both fantastic, but upon reviewing the menu this time around, I didn’t see those 2 items on the menu anymore and I wasn’t really isnpired by any of the other gourmet options. So I opted for a large pizza ½ pepperoni, ½ mushroom. The pizza wasn’t thin enough for my liking, the crust was big and doughy, and the pizza also seemed to be lacking sauce. All in all, I was a bit disappointed after raving about this place for years.
On the plus side, this place takes credit cards, delivers to GHO and the pizza arrived hot in about 30 minutes.

You know how I said I’d never come back? Well, you see I was pretty hungry and they’re so close and it’s so cold I figure, why not? let’s go! Their hours say they close at 12. I came in at 11:40 and they were closed.
I ask you Paolo, why? First you charge me 30 dollars for a pizza with chicken. Now you don’t even want to serve me because you washed the floors. They hadn’t taken away the pizza, hadn’t closed the registers, they just wanted to close early and thought, why serve these cold women?
I’ll tell you why. Because now I went to mama angelina’s and had the best pizza steak ever, I won’t be coming to you again. And not only will I never enter your business with my money, I’ll let everyone I know not to come near either! RUDE.

My roommate asked me a few minutes ago whether I wanted pizza. I told her no thank you, I wasn’t hungry. Without my knowledge, she called in for a large pie and 15 minutes later, it showed up at our door. I guess I wasn’t expecting her to go through with it: order a pizza when I expressed my lack of interest. Clearly, she is a self-​governing woman who doesn’t need a party to support her decisions. She was an active feminist in college.
As I sat at my computer, I took quick peeks over my shoulder to watch her enjoy the cheesy deliciousness. Finally, the craving kicked in. I tossed $ 6 in her direction and when she left the couch to pick it up, I stole a slice. Then another. And another. Paolo’s pizza is good enough to steal.